TRITONS CONTINUE ROAD STRETCHUC San Diego (6-15, 3-13 MPSF) remains in the midst of a season-long five-match road stretch this week, with all five contests coming at Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) foes. The Tritons next head to Malibu on Friday, Mar. 15, to take on the fourth-ranked Pepperdine Waves (11-6, 10-6 MPF) at 7 p.m. at Firestone Fieldhouse. Then on Saturday night, Mar. 16, UCSD will play at 14th-ranked USC (4-11, 4-11 MPSF). First serve inside the Lyon Center is also set for 7 p.m.

MATCH COVERAGEAll UCSD home matches inside RIMAC Arena again this season feature a live online video stream as well as live stats, both free of charge. Fans can access live video and live stats from the Schedule/Results tab of the men's volleyball page at UCSDtritons.com. Both road tilts this week will have live stats through CBSSports.com GameTracker, with live streaming video for Friday's match in Malibu and a live audio broadcast of Friday's contest at USC. Follow @PepperdineMVB and @USCmensvolley for in-match Twitter updates.

UCSD SUFFERS PAIR OF STRAIGHT-SET LOSSESUCSD fell at third-ranked Long Beach State last Wednesday, Mar. 6, and at then-seventh-ranked Cal State Northridge two nights later. Both results were three-set sweeps, as UCSD has now played eight consecutive three-set matches, going 2-6. Nick Iorfino was the lone Triton in double-figure kills last weekend, putting down 11 in each contest. Chase Frishman collected team highs of five and six digs, respectively. Fred Stahl had six total blocks in Northridge to lead all players.

EBERTS APPROACHING EXCLUSIVE 1000-KILL CLUBIn his final season of college volleyball, senior outside hitter Carl Eberts needs 40 kills to become just the fifth player in program history to reach the 1,000-kill plateau. The product of Huntington Beach and Edison High School produced 89 kills as a redshirt freshman in 2010, before leading the squad in 2011 and 2012 with 326 and 335 kills, respectively. With 40 more kills, Eberts would join current members of the 1,000 Club and former teammates Jason Spangler (1,491; 2007-10) and Frank Fritsch (1,403; 2007-10), as well as Jim Waller (1,301; 2001-04) and former Triton women's volleyball head coach (2005-09) and current LMU women's coach Tom Black (1,268; 1993-96). Eberts once again paces the team through 21 matches this season with 210 kills (3.18/set).

VETERAN DUO MOVING UP ALL-TIME CHARTSCarl Eberts and Chase Frishman are each moving up separate all-time lists in the UCSD men's volleyball record book. Eberts is currently eighth in kills with 960 (10 away from Jeff Babcock in seventh). He is seventh in digs (469), seventh in attacks (2,295) and also looking to enter the all-time list in the aces (52; two short) category. Frishman, meanwhile, is tied for second with Chris Mortimer (2000-03) at 607 digs apiece. Eric Leserman (2006-09) tops that list with 885.

SCOUTING PEPPERDINEThe No. 4 Waves have turned around their fortunes in 2013 after going 14-15 overall and placing eighth in the MPSF (9-13) a year ago. Pepperdine is coming off of a come-from-behind, 3-1 upset over second-ranked UC Irvine at home on Tuesday night. Set scores in the tight affair that featured a total of 44 ties were 26-28, 25-23, 26-24 and 25-20. Leading the offense was Maurice Torres with 22 kills, while Ryan Plueger paced the defense with a career-high 16 digs. Previously, the Waves hit a collective .542 (46-7-72) in their first non-conference match of the year, hosting and sweeping NAIA side Hope International on Mar. 8. The team clip is a 2013 MPSF high, the best for any MPSF team since Hawai'i hit .543 on Apr. 2, 2011, and fourth-best in Waves' history. Setter Matt West had 43 assists and served a career-high four aces. Pepperdine is now 8-1 at home on the year. Volleyball Hall of Famer Marv Dunphy is in his 30th season guiding the Waves.

SCOUTING USCThe 14th-ranked Trojans (4-11, 4-11 MPSF) have dropped three straight matches, all on the road at conference foes in five sets, first at Stanford on Mar. 3, and then back-to-back contests at Hawai'i last weekend. The two-time defending MPSF regular-season champion, USC is currently on the outside looking in to a top-eight MPSF Championship Tournament spot. The Trojans, who are just 2-4 at home and have dropped three in a row there, are led by Tanner Jansen (3.88 kills/set) and Joey Booth (2.72 kills/set). Sophomore Micah Christenson (10.64 assists/set) is the regular setter. He also paces the squad with 2.15 digs per set. Sophomore middle Robert Feathers is averaging 2.21 kills and a team-best 0.98 blocks per set. UCSD posted its first-ever three-game sweep over USC in this season's first meeting, in La Jolla back on Jan. 10. Two-time AVCA National Coach of the Year Bill Ferguson is in his seventh season at the Trojan helm.

IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGSThrough matches played Mar. 10, Chase Frishman ranks 14th nationally in the NCAA Division I-II in digs per set (2.41). Garrett Dempsey is 27th in assists per set (7.67) and Fred Stahl 29th in blocks per set (0.97). UCSD is 16th in digs per set (9.15), 18th in assists per set (11.39), 24th in kills per set (12.01), 27th in hitting percentage (0.219) and 28th in blocks per set (1.95).

IN THE MPSFThrough matches played Mar. 10, Chase Frishman is third in the MPSF in digs at 2.41 per set. Garrett Dempsey (7.67/set) and Mike Brunsting (5.61/set) are 13th and 14th, respectively, in assists, with Fred Stahl 14th in blocks (0.97/set). UCSD is fourth in the conference in team digs (9.15/set), and is 10th in assists (11.39/set) and kills (12.01/set). Last year, Carl Eberts ranked 14th in both kills (3.22/set) and points (3.77/set), while Frishman was third in digs (2.28/set). UCSD ranked sixth in digs (8.60/set).

FOLLOW THE TRITONSThere are now more ways than ever to follow the Tritons. You've always got UCSDtritons.com at your fingertips, but our social media scene continues to grow. Get instant updates on Twitter and like us on Facebook. For a more visual approach, watch our YouTube channel. Follow the Tritons all year long on social media for behind-the-scenes looks!